Even the Norwegians, the hockey powerhouse that they are, managed to get one past American NHL star Ryan Miller.

If Germany fails to score in their final preliminary match against Belarus, they might actually reach Absolute Zero. With their renowned science education system, I trust most Germans know what that means.

Belarus Better Luck Next Times

Belarus came into this tournament with historically high expectations, ranked ahead of traditional hockey powerhouse Slovakia in the World Rankings, and behind only the Big 6 and Switzerland.

But unlike the Swiss and the Slovaks, the Belorussians have failed to put a Swiss-like scare into the the higher-ranked teams they've played thus far.

A 5-1 loss to Finland wasn't a great start.

They followed that up by going down 3-0 to Sweden. The Swedes took their foot off the pedal and coasted as Belarus drew within one. But it was too little too late as Sweden won 4-2 despite a less-than-stellar performance by young goaltender Jonas Gustavsson, who allowed two goals on just 18 shots.

Where is that Belorussian fighting spirit that shocked the Swedes home early from Salt Lake in 2002?

Czech Mates

Look out: Jaromir Jagr's got the flow going.

Yes, the hair is long again, and the swagger is back.

He's got one heck of a team with him, too.

The Czechs have it up front, they have it on defense, they have it in goal with a hot Tomas Vokoun. And they have it on special teams with players like Jagr, Kaberle and Zidlicky certain to make opponents pay for any penalties.

This is going to be a tough team to beat. A less-than-great game by any of the top seeds, and they will find themselves down Czech-mate to this squad.

Add one letter, and there's also two Brians: Brian Rafalski, and GM Brian Burke.

Maybe Burke's Irish ancestry had something to do with picking seven Ryans, who knows. In any event, by the time the quarterfinals roll around, there's going to be eight players in the locker room with whiplash.

Let's hope Ryan Miller gets over his on time for the round after that. He'll be relied upon to save this team and all the other Ryans if they hope to upset teams like Canada, Russia, Sweden, Finland etc. and win the gold.

Russian Revolution

Everyone knows the Russian hockey team have their eyes set on gold here in Vancouver.

But there is some interesting subtexts to that obvious aim.

First of all, led by megastar Alexander Ovechkin, they're prepared to play a more physical style of play on the smaller North American ice surface than opponents have been accustomed to seeing from past Russian squads that disappointed.

Second of all, they overlooked a number of well-known NHLers to bring a large contingent of players from the upstart Russian-based KHL, which hopes to challenge the hegemony of the NHL over professional hockey in the years to come.

At the front of the pack of KHL stars is Alexei Morozov, a Pittsburgh Penguin castoff who has thrived back home in Russia, and has produced as his Russian coaches have expected in the Olympics thus far.

If the Russians win the gold, it will include two not-so-subtle messages to the pro hockey powers that be here in North America: (1) We beat you at your own game, and (2) We did it with players from our league over players from yours.